Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say

FILE - In this July 6, 2011, file photo, a grizzly bear roams near Beaver Lake in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart, File)

A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.

In a social media post Friday, the B.C. Conservation Officer Service shared details of an investigation that began in 2020, after the agency got a tip from the public about a man who was using bait to hunt bears in the Elkford area.

BCCOS said their investigation took a full year, but they apprehended Guofeng Li in June 2021 after he was caught shooting a decoy black bear near the bait. Through their investigation, officers determined Li shot and killed a grizzly at that same site and harvested parts from the bear.

"Evidence collected during the year-long investigation, combined with information gathered from search warrants executed on Li's truck and cell phone, resulted in a successful conviction of killing wildlife not within open season," the post shared by BCCOS said. "There is no open season for grizzly bears in the province of British Columbia."

Grizzly hunting was completely banned in the province in December 2017.

Li was sentenced in provincial court this week for a Wildlife Act offence. He was fined $10,000 and banned from hunting for 15 years. He also had to forfeit his rifle, BCCOS said.

Most of Li's fine will go to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation to support wildlife habitats in the Elk Valley.